Fear not, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east, and from the west I will gather you. I will say to the north, Give up, and to the south, Do not withhold; bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the end of the earth, everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made. Isaiah 43:5-7

February 5, 2008 Atkins, Arkansas 1 year on

I’ve seen several high school teams that have tornados but I have not seen any with tornado colors. For me those colors are pink and silver. Last year was my first and I pray last experience with the devastation of a twister. I will never forget the landscape littered with the pink and silver of insulation. It was stuck on the barbed wire, it took the place of leaves in trees, there didn’t seem to be anyplace that didn’t have it in some amount. Houses that should have been there were not. Other houses that looked fine were totaled out because they were knocked a few inches off of their foundation.

I remember it was warmer than it should have been, our front door was open waiting for our small group to arrive. The rain had started and the TV was on because the sirens started to go off. I was worried about the Gentry’s place because the storm tracker just showed Petit Jean WMA. I remember the storm tracker showing Atkins and thinking it was near Campbell’s. I called them and surprisingly they were ok; what I didn’t know was that they were just emerging from Marion’s storm shelter. Joanne was still in Russellville. It had grown dark and the roads were going to be clogged with EMS and debris- we couldn’t get out there that night.

The next several days were a blur. It was amazing to see people show up and help. It was an amazing thing to see the church pull together and people out of no where show up and help. The first day it seemed nothing would ever get done. By the third day it was hard to recognize the condition things had been in. The blackhawks flew over (the scary words- “we from FEMA and we’re here to help) to do damage assessments. Over 100 miles on the ground is an unbelievable trail of damage. Its a strong reminder that whatever amount of hubris man boasts of we are still at the mercy of the wind and rain; but the wind and rain falls silent at one word of God. Who are we?

The cleanup has been finished, Marion got a new house that I had the privilege of dedicating. Windows are patched and roofs put back together but there are still scars of that night that will not leave. Those memories are also tempered by the experience of having so many people come out and help – lending a hand, giving whatever was needed and then some.

1 comment

Wow, I remember that day too – it wasn’t just Atkins, AR, but as you say the 100 mile path through Pope, Van Buren, Stone and Conway, counties going all the way through to Pocahontas, AR in Randolph Co. The big one finally stopped just short of the SE Missouri border.

Even months later you could drive through central AR and see houses standing right beside where there neighbors homes were entirely gone. The most beautiful oldest part of Clinton, AR was just simply gone, as were it’s grand old trees – a naked town stripped of the clothing of it’s’ beautiful stone houses and great arching trees. It was the first time I ever saw or knew that a town could be stripped naked. Since I knew and worked with the people who were in charge of requesting financial assistance to repair the agricultural land, it was maybe two months before I could bring myself to drive throug their formerly beautiful towns. My heart hurt for them, however, knew I could best help by doing my own work to get them financial assistance.

It’s so appropriate to remember those days when so many peoples lives were literally turned upside done and especially the family in Atkins who lost Mom, Dad and teenage daughter. Hard to believe it’s only been one year – that was a hard year for the State with 2 other major tornados coming exactly one month from the date of the Big One. This was followed within another mont by severe flooding all along the White River. The flood affected virtually every town along the River going diagonally from NW to SE Arkans. It’s very different when the people affected are your friends and good to remember their hard time and the open-hearted help from neighbors.